Julio Mario Santo Domingo


Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo was a Colombian-American businessman, diplomat and patriarch of the Santo Domingo family who lived in New York City. He controlled more than 100 companies in the diversified portfolio of the "Santo Domingo Group." He was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the wealthiest men in the world, and the second-wealthiest in Colombia, with a fortune of $8 billion U.S. dollars. He was the founder of a philanthropic foundation, named to honor his father, that benefits Colombia's social development.

Early life

Julio Mario Santo Domingo was born on October 16, 1923 in Panama City, Panama, to Julio Mario Santo Domingo Santo Domingo and Beatriz Pumarejo de Vengoechea, the youngest of their four children; his older siblings were Beatriz Alicia, Cecilia, and Luis Felipe. His father was a banker, described as austere and disciplined, who made a fortune buying companies weakened during the Great Depression; his mother, from a rich and influential family, was first cousin of Alfonso López Pumarejo who was twice President of Colombia. He grew up in Barranquilla and later attended the exclusive Gimnasio Moderno in Bogotá, D.C., ultimately culminating his secondary studies at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts; he later attended University of Virginia before transferring to Georgetown University, but did not finish his degree.

Ambassadorship

On May 26, 1980, President Julio César Turbay Ayala appointed Santo Domingo to be the first Ambassador of Colombia to China. He presented his Letters of Credence to Ulanhu, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in Beijing on February 17, 1981.

Santo Domingo Group

The Group has a majority stake in Bavaria Brewery and Valores Bavaria. In 2005, Bavaria Brewery merged with South African company SABMiller. In this merging, the group acquired 15.1% of SAB Miller, becoming the second-largest shareholder of the second-largest beer company in the world.

Portfolio

He first married to Edyala Braga Brandão do Monte, a Brazilian socialite, daughter of Brazilian ambassador in Paris and former wife of Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas' brother. Together they had one son, Julio Mario Santo Domingo Braga, but the marriage did not last long and they divorced shortly after. Julio Mario Jr. married Vera Rechulski, a Brazilian socialite and they had 2 children – Tatiana Santo Domingo and Julio Mario Santo Domingo III.
He remarried on February 15, 1975 to Colombian socialite Beatrice Dávila Rocha, and together they had two sons, Alejandro Santo Domingo Dávila who has continued on in the family business and Andrés Santo Domingo Dávila the co-founder and president of Kemado Records, who in 2008 married socialite Lauren Davis.
Santo Domingo owned homes in New York City, in Paris, and Barú, a Colombian island near Cartagena.